Tales of Tamer
by SpruceMoose13
Summary: A collection of loosely connected one-shots, about a soldier caught in a world-changing conflict without the blessing of mystical forces, Fate, Destiny, or Chosen Ones. Just a common man, just trying to help, just trying to survive.


Tamer bent down, hoping to squeeze out the last bit of sleepiness in his joints. He hoped it would be an easy morning, tea rations were getting tight again and the regiment had been marching without a resupply for a week now. He bent his knees, squatting and yawning himself to life just beyond the clearing where his comrades had set up camp. The soil beneath him was moist from the early morning dew, which he always found made it that much harder to get the grogginess out of his head.

When he felt sufficiently awake, he grabbed his spear and adjusted his helmet. He walked back to the campfire until Sho, a somewhat elderly sergeant whom he all the younger men were rather fond of, yelled out a vague threat involving latrine duty. That motivated him to jog the rest of the way. Sho was stocky to the point of giving an impression of rotundness. The reality was he was packed with powerful muscle, as well as spirit and a life well lived. A belly full of home cooking, a house full of kids and a beautiful wife, a joke for every occasion...

Tamer wished they would just let him go home, save him from himself. His intentions were pure, but an all-volunteer regiment was no place for men with so much to be living for.

"Hustle matters to the commander Tam', you know better," Sho told him when he arrived and sat down in the circle surrounding the fire.

"Right Sho, won't let it happen again,"

"Save it for the brass, I don't care if you loli-gag off the battlefield, just don't do it when he can see you!" Sho nodded toward the commander, a stately looking man with poise becoming of a military leader. His long mustache drooped on either side of his face, just beginning to show bits of gray, and his uniform appeared to fit him so neatly it gave the impression he sprang from the womb an officer. He stood near the tents sipping his tea and discussing the day's objective with the rest of the regiment's leadership.

"Never can understand why they take so long to discuss marching us another 30 miles. The order is to run like mad from the Fire Nation and link up with the 56th right? I don't think it takes a genius to figure out we're gonna be stuck pulling double time until the next meal," complained Kita, his features sharp and intense as usual. He always gave Tamer the feeling one gets when they gently place their finger on a blade to test its sharpness. Angular face, intense green eyes, and an opinion on everything that he absolutely had to make sure you knew. But Tamer didn't mind much when he also knew Kita would be the first to rush in and help save his life in the heat of battle. He learned you could forgive a lot of things about a person very quickly under such circumstances.

"That's exactly why the king has them talk it out over a cup of the good stuff, and not you Kits'," Sho countered before taking another bite of rice.

Tamer smirked, but Kita just shot him a dirty look.

Henko finally stopped fiddling with the fire long enough to join in the conversation. His long brown hair fell in front of his face entirely too neatly for a solider in the field. It belied his gentler nature, as did his simple hopes for a life on the farm, with a wife in one arm and a bundle of children hanging on the other. He was the simple, kindly sort of country boy, like a younger version of Sho. All appearcnes aside, no one ever doubted his grit after serving this long a tour of duty. Henko had been around at the regiment's founding, and he'd done things that would make him a man a thousand times more than he ever wished, or wished upon anyone else.

"I bet you'd make a good commander Sho," he said, in complete earnest.

"Shut it, they don't need an old fart like me. They need someone with a sharp mind for the enemy, and a good heart for the troops," Sho responded, with a bit of amusement in his voice. He looked over to Tamer appraisingly for second, then returned to his breakfast. The moment was not lost on Kita

"You think ol' battle skirt could lead the regiment Sho? I guess I could see that, considering his backround. Got a soft touch and a hard punch, don'cha Tam'?"

"Only for you Kits," Tamer shot back. Everyone in the regiment knew Tamer originally hailed from Kyoshi Island, home of the Kyoshi Warriors. Despite their reputation, and recent service to the cause, their femininity and the island's political neutrality toward the war meant Tamer had to live with a mostly unearned perception around the campfire.

"_Did ya run from home because you weren't good enough warrior to join their crew, or because you weren't a good enough girl?"_

That was probably his favorite, after he'd gotten used to the steady stream of pot shots. You had to get used to them, it was simply the way of life in the trenches. There were no women to be wooed, no adventures that could really be savored, no promise of mystical intervention from the daily grind of survival. And certainly no escape from the constant danger of life in the field. All they had was each other, and that meant entirely too much of each other. The best way to cope was a touch of loving contempt for the little things that made each man unique, in a life where they were to exist as one unified entity.

Besides bickering, there was always campfire philosophy to preserve one's sanity. Tamer had always considered it a blatant proof that the spirits were not infallible that men such as these were allowed so much time to sit down together and think, instead of much smarter individuals.

"Well, I think I'd rather be bitten by one of those extinct Fire Nation dragons than get sat on by a platypus bear," exclaimed Henko.

"Come on, you're telling me you'd willingly be chomped by one of the Fire Nation's worms? At least you still got a chance at rescue with the bear!" Kita argued, rudely swinging his chopsticks to at each man.

"But are your all your limbs pinned down under you? That's gonna matter for me," Tamer pointed out.

"You have to figure one is free to try and grab the tail or something. What'a you think Sho?" Kita asked.

"I think you'll sooner get your arm broken doing that. Let me tell you, once I was..."

Sho never finished his story. At that very moment, a blistering explosion had just rocked the encampment. Instantly, all hands grabbed for their weapons and sprinted for cover in a nearby ditch.

"Enemy on the right! Take cover!" Sho barked, the younger men giving no argument.

The initial attack was directed for the officers meeting. It was only partially successful; their captain appeared to have survived with only charred clothes while several lieutenants were motionless on the nearby ground. Fire continued to erupt from their woods beyond the tents, bursting with lethal intentions. It did not dance in the wind, it convulsed, taunting the troops with their impending doom. There was no doubt that fire benders were behind the ambush, and their orders were the simplest kind.

"Attention to the Earth Nation's half-citizens! We are fully aware you have no benders, nor are you an elite unit. We generously offer to overlook your lack of importance to the Fire Lord and take you prisoner, in lieu of burning your ashes until not even a memory of your lives exists in this land." The enemy commander was clearly not only a bender, but an arrogant one. He wanted to make his opinion on non-benders obvious to break their spirits, and that suited the 131st just fine.

Earth Kingdom soldiers were taught from the first day of their training never to budge under the enemy's pressure. The drill sergeants used the elements to weave a metaphor: fire could burn the earth. It could blacken it, it could affect the surface. But it could not ignite it, and it could not move it. The spirit of the kingdom was like that of the earth, and it was a soldier's duty to uphold this spirit more than any other citizen.

The Fire Nation's non-bender footsoldiers advanced slowly with weapons down, their faceplates showing no emotion. The morning sun began to build in strength, and the fire burning behind them continued to smolder, a violent gleam shining from their metallic gaze. The Earth Kingdom line held their ground. They knew that the enemy's offer of imprisonment was quickly fading as the ground between both armies shrank. No one considered accepting it, not even with the stench of burnt canvas and blackened pollen filling their lungs.

They bolted to their positions on the spear line, standard reaction. There wasn't much else they could do in this position without bender support. The line took another warning blast from the benders. The enemy warriors continued to advance. The line held still.

But Tamer thought he saw something in the way the firebenders went through their form...something odd...

Quivering fists, shaking stances. Tight, rigid joints, going through forms like a series of drawings. Nothing like the kind of firebenders that wiped out entire divisions, the battle hardened dragons that felt more comofrtable bending than walking. And their armor...no decoration. Basic stuff, for that matter, it looked almost cheap compared to the stuff he'd seen in the worst battles. There was only real explanation for it.

"Sir, _fresh crop! Fresh crop!" _Tamer yelled, so loud he felt like his lungs were cutting themselves. He began to run now, full spring, down the spear line to the commander. The captain was there now too, keeping his head low and gesturing what looked like a suicide retreat: one half fleeing, the other half left to nobly sacrifice themselves to the illustrious King's name.

It made him ill. There was no telling which flank would be the lucky one to fall back, but Tamer knew there was at least three Sho's in either side, two Kita's, probably ten or twelve Henkos...plenty of Tamer's too, if he allowed himself to keep down that train of thought. He stopped himself before any shakes could set in.

He reached the end of the line, his voice now hoarse but somehow still functional. He'd been shouting his message the entire way.

"What insolance is this..._speak quickly_, solider!" the captain roared.

"Sir, it's a fresh crop, just out of training. This must be their first real action, it's just a recon out here to harass our movement. With armor that light, I don't think they'll stand a fight in the trenches," Tamer replied. One leg was shaking terribly, his brow was sweating boulders. He should never have bothered running down here, risking his head getting torched on the way, now risking death by either side of the battle. Insubordination was punishable by execution, the ministers had seen to it that this was the encouraged policy among "expendable" troops. Came from some "Ling Feng" guy, if he remembered correctly.

The captain tensed, appraised Tamer briefly, then looked at the still relentless firebenders. He snapped his head back to the lieutenant, there was only one real choice at this point.

"Order the charge"

Tamer nearly fell over in relief before scrambling to get back on the spear line, body poised and ready to act at the slightest trigger. The enemy was close, so close now. This was where thoughts stopped, to make room for reactions. That used to scare him, but now he just didn't care. He wondered if the not caring should scare him too.

"**Line ready**!" the lieutenant bellowed.

Tamer stopped "wondering" anything the moment he heard that voice.

"**Line prepared...on my signal..."**

He clutched his spear tighter. These were the moments he promised Suki he wouldn't shy away from. He promised her he'd be a strong warrior, promised her he'd bring the island honor, promised up and down that night on the beach...

He also promised his mother he'd come home, and he often wondered if both promises could be kept.

"**CHARGE**"

The order came down, and at once every man on the line dashed forward into the maelstrom. Immediately some were engulfed in flames, the din of battle making it blessedly hard to hear them. The rest pressed forward and did their best to prove why the Fire Nation was wasting it's men with these ambushes.

The skirmish was quick and ugly, as usual. 10 minutes of close fighting was enough to break the nerve of the all too fresh troops, even with the casualties sustained on both sides. And Tamer's regiment had seen far too much to be bothered by it so easily. The Fire Nation commander withdrew his troops, ordering them to fling fire back towards the Earth Kingdom soldiers to force them into staying put and taking cover. Typical, he'd probably regret it when he reported this back to his commander even if it was a smart move. Tamer had heard the Fire Lord cared little for such inexperienced troops anyway. He'd probably count it a victory in his war room that they'd slowed down his regiment at all.

They set up camp and a triage where they stood, it was easier if they didn't have to move the wounded so much and the area was defensible enough. Tamer saw none of his usual campfire mates on the makeshift beds, but that didn't mean the faces were strangers. He'd gone too long without something to steady his nerves, but there was definitely none of that left in the camp. It would be an interesting night for sleeping, with an exhausted body and mind still not totally immune to the toll of its duty.

Later, at the campfire again, his comrades told him he'd done a good job, maybe he'd get a medal.

All he really wanted was an extra ration, but he'd settle for a day that didn't hurt somewhere inside or out. That didn't make him worry if he'd never be able to take it out of him.


End file.
